Kvitova beat Azarenka to reach first Wimbledon final

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LONDON: Big-hitting Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reached her first Wimbledon final on Thursday when she defeated Belarusian fourth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in a rollercoaster semi-final.

The 21-year-old, who is the first Czech since Jana Novotna in 1998 to make the title match, will tackle either 2004 champion Maria Sharapova or German wildcard Sabine Lisicki in Saturday's final.

She is also the first left-hander to make the final at the All England Club since her childhood inspiration Martina Navratilova, watching from the Royal Box on Centre Court, in 1990.

Kvitova, with her right thigh tightly-strapped, raced through the first set in just 27 minutes, breaking in the fourth and sixth games, racking up 13 winners and firing six howitzer aces past a hapless Azarenka.

But the fired-up fourth-seeded Belarusian, playing in her first Grand Slam semi-final, stopped her opponent's run of five successive games with a break in the second game of the second set helping her into a 3-0 lead.

Kvitova, who had never won a match on grass before her run to the semi-finals last year, had to save two break points at 1-4 as the match threatened to run away from her.

Azarenka was in the ascendancy, however, and the Belarusian levelled the tie in the ninth game on a third set point when Kvitova went long with a forehand.

Kvitova, who had defeated Azarenka in the third round here last year, then shook off the shackles at the start of the third set and jumped out to a 3-1 with a break in the second game.

She fought off two break points in the fourth game, which she secured with her ninth ace of the tie and wrapped up the match when Azarenka popped up a limp second double fault in the eighth game.